Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Pre-Retreat Interview with Wendy Wahman

The brilliant Wendy!

One feature of this year’s fall retreat, Inspiration and
Motivation for Creatives, will be the option to take part in two sessions with
local author/illustrator Wendy Wahman.
Our region’s creativity coordinator, Joni Sensel, asked Wendy a few questions about
those sessions so you can get a sense of how exciting they’ll be.

Wendy: I learned
how to make the books from my friend Arni Adler, who learned them from Darwin
Nordin. One change I made was adding collage. It’s a simple concept, these
little books, but each one blossoms into something entirely unique. And I have
enough lesson plans for these babies for a 6-week course.

Joni: It sounds like a
launch point for a lot! Maybe we can do more with them sometime soon. What’s
your favorite thing about the process?

Wendy: They
surprise me. It’s hard to take yourself unawares after decades of doing art,
isn’t it? Though, wait. I’m lying. I surprise myself daily. But these little
books begin with surprise. You take the random lines you’ve drawn and tie them
together. Or maybe you untie them? You definitely untie something in yourself –
and they’re way cheaper than therapy.

Joni: Ha ha, I
actually think there may be a lot of inadvertent therapy happening at this
retreat. We’ll see! Do you have other favorite things you turn to when you need
inspiration or feel discouraged?

Wendy: Besides
crying and snivelling? I take a walk, weed, pick up poo in the backyard. Yoga
or meditation. Call someone. Look through books. All kinds of books, not just
kid's or art books. The thesaurus is a dear friend.

But generally, I don’t struggle with motivation. I’ve always
been a workhorse. I just get to work. Although, I do get very anxious and
fearful. Exercise and meditation helps that enormously. (Say, it would be
really cool to offer a group guided meditation at the retreat for anyone who
wants to do it.)

Joni: I’ve been toying
with that idea, actually. Our schedule’s packed with choices already but it’s
designed for small groups following their heart and instincts, so we’ll see
what folks are interested in and maybe we can fit it in.

Another of those
choices is your two-part session for creating a picture-book dummy, of course.
What’s your favorite part of that process?

Wendy: Oh, well,
talk about surprise! Surprise, surprise, we just *think* we know the story
that’s our little darling! Even if you do the art yourself, you can't see it
all in your mind. We’re short-selling our darling by not letting her stretch
out full length in her very own dummy, bon bons and all.

Dummies are a great tool for unearthing “The 3 Ps” —
pictures, page turns, and pacing. When you create a dummy, you see where
pictures can tell the story, so automatically you see where you can trim words
and even scenes. A picture’s worth a thousand words. Use the art to your
story’s advantage. You see the flow of the story – where the pacing is off, the
climax comes too soon, too much up front or behind. You find your page turns.
Then you find better places for a page turn. It’s fun.

Joni: We can’t wait!
In the meantime, what’s your next book coming out?

Wendy: I’m very
excited about Pony in the City, which
releases Sept. 12. The launch party (please come! Bring your pony!) is at 3:00
p.m. on Sept. 17 at University Bookstore in Seattle. There’s a book trailer! And right
now I’m working on the color and cover art for Nanny Paws, which is coming out in the spring.After that, I’ll be working on sequels for
both.

Joni: Thanks for the,
er, insights, Wendy!

We’re looking forward to more at our Inspiration and
Motivation for Creatives: Weekend on the Water retreat, which will take place
Oct. 13-15 at an exciting new venue we've been eyeballing for years. Registration will open soon;
watch your email and this space for details!